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This is pretty accurate especially when you go through Stone Park, Melrose Park, and Franklin Park. Pretty much Mannheim form Westchester to O'Hare is pretty damn sketchy. That said, if you continue down south on Mannheim, into the portion where it's no longer Mannheim, but La Grange Road, there is a HUGE difference in feel. Much better than up north.

I hope Westchester remains "diverse", and isn't hit by white flight like Maywood and Bellwood have been. A diverse neighborhood is good. But if things get out of hand, Westchester can end up being like some of it's north and east neighbors, which is why many people fear WC's future.

The reason anyone that understands the true patterns of demographic change might have concerns about Westchester is not "white flight" but the lack of desirable amenities that appeal to broad ranges of home owners. Without direct access to Metra that really limits the options for commuting to the jobs in the Loop. Lack of good public high schools means folks that prefer not to spend money on private schools are out of luck. The sorts of walkable neighborhood features that increasing are demanded by buyers, like locally owned resturants, grocers, a place for kids to get an ice cream or meet friends, are also not present...

Countering these things are the HUGE investment in jobs INSIDE Westchester, admittedly confined to a few massive high rises and nearby office parks. Those developments mirror the sorts of options for employers to find space in the popular / adjacent areas of Oak Brook though they are a little closer to Chicago... The long history of Westchester families supporting private high schools seems to counter the fears of those that they do not wish to risk sending kids to Proviso West. Commercial development in the town is mostly strong -- Mariano's is rebuilding what was the "flagship Dominincks Fresh Store" to set a new standard of excellent in Mariano's new organization, there are other grocers in town too, as well as mostly well occupied retail spaces. Finally, when I drive past Westchester's many really well maintained parks I see an abundance of young baseball players "under the lights" being cheered on by young families that seem to largely match the ethnic makeup of towns like Western Springs or Lagrange, far different than the "majority minority" composition of towns mentioned above or even towns like Cicero or others like Bedford Park, Burbank, Summit, etc that increasingly have seen their working class areas switch over to recent immigrants from the middle eastern countries and Latin America...

The reason anyone that understands the true patterns of demographic change might have concerns about Westchester is not "white flight" but the lack of desirable amenities that appeal to broad ranges of home owners. Without direct access to Metra that really limits the options for commuting to the jobs in the Loop. Lack of good public high schools means folks that prefer not to spend money on private schools are out of luck. The sorts of walkable neighborhood features that increasing are demanded by buyers, like locally owned resturants, grocers, a place for kids to get an ice cream or meet friends, are also not present...

Countering these things are the HUGE investment in jobs INSIDE Westchester, admittedly confined to a few massive high rises and nearby office parks. Those developments mirror the sorts of options for employers to find space in the popular / adjacent areas of Oak Brook though they are a little closer to Chicago... The long history of Westchester families supporting private high schools seems to counter the fears of those that they do not wish to risk sending kids to Proviso West. Commercial development in the town is mostly strong -- Mariano's is rebuilding what was the "flagship Dominincks Fresh Store" to set a new standard of excellent in Mariano's new organization, there are other grocers in town too, as well as mostly well occupied retail spaces. Finally, when I drive past Westchester's many really well maintained parks I see an abundance of young baseball players "under the lights" being cheered on by young families that seem to largely match the ethnic makeup of towns like Western Springs or Lagrange, far different than the "majority minority" composition of towns mentioned above or even towns like Cicero or others like Bedford Park, Burbank, Summit, etc that increasingly have seen their working class areas switch over to recent immigrants from the middle eastern countries and Latin America...

You are right, but white flight is sort of an effect from all of that. My point was, many working class people from the east will be coming into Westchester. When these pops of people are typically minority (hispanics and blacks), you know very well that white people don't like when these demographics begin moving in at rapid rates. Again, many of these working class minority families don't need the commute to the loop, so not having efficient transportation is not an issue, for the most part. As time progresses on, you may, or may not, see white people leaving to the point where they are the minority, and when that's the case, it's only a matter of time the white pop is non existent. Hence, "white flight".

As I've mentioned, however, I don't believe this is destined to happen. It's only a possibility. A possibility that is not that far fetched to believe may happen. You've said it yourself, the lack of amenities, lack of good transportation, and lack of good schooling isn't going to be desirable to many modern day middle class and upper class Asians, whites, blacks, hispanics, etc., so this means working class and poorer residents may be moving in (the lot sizes and homes in WC really look like working class homes, on average).

As for that business park, yes, that is a redeeming factor, and yes, there probably are some more middle class people in those small sections of Westchester (those gated areas along Wolf RD). However, these don't account for the majority of WC. They are only a small part of the whole town. I have a feeling also that many people working in these offices are people who aren't Westchester residents. There's a massive circuit Cook County courthouse in Maywood. Does that really mean Maywood residents are working there? Perhaps a few, but most workers there are out of towners. As for Mariano's, that certainly is going to be a big change for that, IMO, outdated strip mall. But that's not exactly going to provide many "career" jobs, more like minimum wage jobs. While it will contribute to the community's economy, it will mainly provide minimum wage jobs, which may be partially taken by teens in Western Springs and Hillside as well.

Again, Westchester at this time, is a well brought up community. But it's future is possibly in jeopardy. It's good to see many families still living there, but what you see a dearth of in Westchester, are newly built houses, something you see in other "keeping up with the times" communities like La Grange and Western Springs. That is another bad sign. I hope Westchester "hangs in there". But all I'm saying is I think it's had it's glory days.

You are right, but white flight is sort of an effect from all of that. My point was, many working class people from the east will be coming into Westchester. When these pops of people are typically minority (hispanics and blacks), you know very well that white people don't like when these demographics begin moving in at rapid rates. Again, many of these working class minority families don't need the commute to the loop, so not having efficient transportation is not an issue, for the most part. As time progresses on, you may, or may not, see white people leaving to the point where they are the minority, and when that's the case, it's only a matter of time the white pop is non existent. Hence, "white flight".

As I've mentioned, however, I don't believe this is destined to happen. It's only a possibility. A possibility that is not that far fetched to believe may happen. You've said it yourself, the lack of amenities, lack of good transportation, and lack of good schooling isn't going to be desirable to many modern day middle class and upper class Asians, whites, blacks, hispanics, etc., so this means working class and poorer residents may be moving in (the lot sizes and homes in WC really look like working class homes, on average).

As for that business park, yes, that is a redeeming factor, and yes, there probably are some more middle class people in those small sections of Westchester (those gated areas along Wolf RD). However, these don't account for the majority of WC. They are only a small part of the whole town. I have a feeling also that many people working in these offices are people who aren't Westchester residents. There's a massive circuit Cook County courthouse in Maywood. Does that really mean Maywood residents are working there? Perhaps a few, but most workers there are out of towners. As for Mariano's, that certainly is going to be a big change for that, IMO, outdated strip mall. But that's not exactly going to provide many "career" jobs, more like minimum wage jobs. While it will contribute to the community's economy, it will mainly provide minimum wage jobs, which may be partially taken by teens in Western Springs and Hillside as well.

Again, Westchester at this time, is a well brought up community. But it's future is possibly in jeopardy. It's good to see many families still living there, but what you see a dearth of in Westchester, are newly built houses, something you see in other "keeping up with the times" communities like La Grange and Western Springs. That is another bad sign. I hope Westchester "hangs in there". But all I'm saying is I think it's had it's glory days.

The reason anyone that understands the true patterns of demographic change might have concerns about Westchester is not "white flight" but the lack of desirable amenities that appeal to broad ranges of home owners. Without direct access to Metra that really limits the options for commuting to the jobs in the Loop. Lack of good public high schools means folks that prefer not to spend money on private schools are out of luck. The sorts of walkable neighborhood features that increasing are demanded by buyers, like locally owned resturants, grocers, a place for kids to get an ice cream or meet friends, are also not present...

Countering these things are the HUGE investment in jobs INSIDE Westchester, admittedly confined to a few massive high rises and nearby office parks. Those developments mirror the sorts of options for employers to find space in the popular / adjacent areas of Oak Brook though they are a little closer to Chicago... The long history of Westchester families supporting private high schools seems to counter the fears of those that they do not wish to risk sending kids to Proviso West. Commercial development in the town is mostly strong -- Mariano's is rebuilding what was the "flagship Dominincks Fresh Store" to set a new standard of excellent in Mariano's new organization, there are other grocers in town too, as well as mostly well occupied retail spaces. Finally, when I drive past Westchester's many really well maintained parks I see an abundance of young baseball players "under the lights" being cheered on by young families that seem to largely match the ethnic makeup of towns like Western Springs or Lagrange, far different than the "majority minority" composition of towns mentioned above or even towns like Cicero or others like Bedford Park, Burbank, Summit, etc that increasingly have seen their working class areas switch over to recent immigrants from the middle eastern countries and Latin America...

While Westchester isn't as close to Metra, it is close to the Eisenhower, which is actually not that bad.

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